Expecting an Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) Refund?

Author: Buckingham

February 4, 2013

Maybe you should… Governor Kasich recently announced a policy change that Ohio will start automatically refunding CAT overpayments reflected in tax filings before the Tax Commissioner. Previously, the state would only issue refunds to taxpayers who filed for a refund within the four-year statute of limitations, even if the state was aware of the overpayment. Explaining the policy change, Governor Kasich said, “We never made an effort to tell businesses when they overpaid their taxes… Instead of covering up and hiding the money, we are making an aggressive effort to determine who gets the refunds.”

Consistent with Ohio’s business friendly climate, a hallmark of Kasich’s administration thus far, Ohio will be sending about 3,500 CAT refund checks to businesses, with more refunds to come as additional overpayments are discovered. We expect this practice to rollover into other taxes in the future.